New coronavirus infections fell by 16% over the past week — the third straight week of significant improvement.

Yes, but: The U.S. is still averaging roughly 165,000 new cases per day, meaning the virus is still spreading largely unchecked. And the rise of more contagious variants will ensure that Americans’ risk remains high.

Details: In 41 states, the average number of new daily cases was lower over the past week than the week before. No states got worse.

• Nationwide, new cases are now at about the same level they were at in mid-December — down from their peak, but still a lot.

What’s next: If Americans can accelerate this progress, we’ll reduce the number of people who die before vaccines become universally available.

• But that will be a challenge, given the country’s track record and the continued spread of more easily transmissible variants.

Each week, Axios tracks the change in new infections in each state. We use a seven-day average to minimize the effects of day-to-day discrepancies in states’ reporting.